100 years ago in Spokane: Temperance union targets smoking docs

From our archives, 100 years ago

The Spokane County Chapter of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union found a new target: doctors who smoke.

“It is our duty to get after the doctors and see that they quit smoking,” one member said. “They have just as much influence with the young men as school teachers. A doctor who smokes can’t consistently advise anyone else against it.”

From the diamond file: Miss Florence Robertson, a young theater cashier, had an exceptionally bad day.

She was taking a crowded jitney (bus) to work. In her coat pocket were four diamond rings she was keeping for a friend. When she exited the jitney, she had walked only a few feet and discovered the rings were gone. She ran back, but the jitney had taken off.

So, she frantically hailed a taxi, which raced after the jitney. The taxi caught up with the jitney near Division Street, and Miss Robertson jumped out. She said she was “so excited” that she neglected to see a streetcar, which struck her. She collapsed and fainted.

A passing doctor restored her to consciousness. Then she jumped up and searched the jitney, but found no trace of the rings.

She was not injured badly, but she was still distraught about the loss of the diamond rings.

From the power beat: Washington Water Power (today’s Avista) said it was serving 30,717 customers, up more than 1,000 over the previous year. At its annual meeting, the company also noted that its new power plant at Long Lake was supplying “33,000 electric horsepower.”